A Nepalese student at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, died by suicide last week after being allegedly harassed by a fellow student, sparking unrest on campus. The accused in the case, one Advik Srivastava, was arrested by the police, and investigation is underway.
In this backdrop, alleged photos of “Manoj Shrivastava, an influential BJP politician from Lucknow and the father of Advik Srivastava” have surfaced online. Newschecker, however, found the claim to be untrue, and that the man seen in the viral photos is not Advik Srivastava’s father.
The photos show Shrivastava with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath. A poster of BJP leader Smriti Irani’s rally, featuring Shrivastava has also been shared, all insinuating the alleged BJP ties of the accused and his family.
The post can be seen here.
Fact Check/Verification
An reverse image search on the images featured in the collage led us to the Facebook account of Manoj Srivastava, the former District Vice President BJP Ayodhya. We skimmed through the account, and found the photos of him with the Prime Minister and the Uttar Pradesh CM, as seen in the viral collage. The poster of Irani’s rally was also seen in the profile.
We also found a recent post by Srivastava wishing his son ‘Akshat Srivastava’ on his birthday. Akshat Srivastava studied at ‘DBS Global University’, lives in Ayodhya and is the ‘MD/CEO at V.M Auto Motors Ayodhya’, as per his Facebook profile.
Further, we did not find a mention of Advik Srivastava, the accused in the KIIT suicide case, in the BJP leader’s social media handles.
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Newschecker reached out to Manoj Srivastava who dismissed the claim, and clarified that he is not related to accused Advik Srivastava. “I have only one son, Akshat Srivastava, who lives in Ayodhya, and is into business.”
Furthermore, we found a report by Hindustan Times stating that the accused is the son of a civil engineer in Lucknow.
Another politician from Lucknow, ‘Manoj K Srivastava’ was also wrongly identified as the father of accused in the Nepali girl suicide case in Odisha. It was debunked by Newschecker on February 18, 2025, and can be seen here.
We were not independently able to ascertain details about Advik Srivastava’s father. However, we could conclude that the man seen in the photos is not related to the accused in the KIIT suicide case.
Conclusion
Hence, we found that the viral photos does not show KIIT suicide case accused’s father with Prime Minister Modi, and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath.
Result: False
Sources
Facebook Account Of Manoj Srivastava
Telephonic Conversation With Ayodhya BJP Leader Manoj Srivastava On February 22, 2025
